The Next Big Thing: My Pet Serial Killer

Hey internet, we indulge on a deluge of content so, for the sake of indulgence, can we keep the “Next Big Thing” blog interview series alive? There are plenty of authors, and plenty of books, worthy of the limelight. I ask that you give them a moment of attention and they will, in turn, provide you with a reason to stay up late at night, tucked between the pages of a captivating read. Suspend disbelief?

Many thanks to Peter Tieryas Liu, author of Watering Heaven, for passing the torch. Now for the 10-questions. Fun:

Ever seen a man or woman whipped, completely given and sown to, their significant other? It’s never healthy and it often results in relationship troubles, one dominating the other; the concept began one morning while drinking coffee, trying my best to shake the grogginess of the previous night’s activities. I’m not entirely sure what the first spark was but after jotting a few notes, I couldn’t stop and spent the greater half of the very same day transcribing the notes into a Word document, testing ideas and potential scenes.

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

I can picture Claire being portrayed by someone like Blake Lively (Savages, The Town), Elizabeth Olsen (Silent House, Martha Marcy May Marlene), or Amber Heard (The Rum Diary), the latter of which only because she already played a twisted killer in All The Boys Love Mandy Lane.

As for Victor, the Gentleman Killer, he’d be an unknown or some young new actor that could fit on a daytime soap opera. He needs to look innocent, the exact opposite of who you’d expect to be into the flesh arts.

Everyone else: _______________ (fill in the blank).

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Claire Wilkinson is a grad student of forensics attracted to a very specific type – serial murderers.

6) Who published your book?

Enigmatic Ink (Publication date: January 21st, 2013).

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

About a week and an additional week to edit into shape.

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Hmm. This one’s hard. I’ll list out titles that I’d like to see My Pet Serial Killer with on a book shelf full of fucked up fiction: American Psycho (Bret Easton Ellis), The Girl Next Door (Jack Ketchum), Cows (Matthew Stokoe), The Marbled Swarm (Dennis Cooper), The Wasp Factory (Ian Banks), The End of Alice (A. M. Homes).

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?

Observed relationship demise.

10) What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?

There’s a lot of sociological/criminological inspection of underground fetish culture – from internet webcam cybersex to snuff film to humiliation and dominance to panty raid reality porn to public sex to scat – pervading the scenes depicted in the book. If that piques your interest, you are fucked up. Nothing wrong with that. Crack open a copy and let me know what you think!

Okay, the torch is starting to burn my fingertips. I need fingertips to write. I hereby pass the “Next Best Thing” over to some truly amazing authors:

(In alphabetical order)

Alexander J Allison

Nick Antosca

Gabriel Blackwell

Gabby Gabby

Luke B. Goebel

Kyle Muntz

Cameron Pierce

Gregory Sherl

Corey Zeller

Expect to hear more from them regarding their latest creations in the next couple weeks. Check out all of their books. They do more with words than Hollywood directors do with their inflated film budgets.